136 - Hidden Growth Hack Top Shops Use OR Downturn-Proof: The Shop Owner’s Guide to Growing in Any Economy
August 6, 2025 - 00:52:27

Show Summary:

Jimmy Lea hosts a conversation with AutoBoost’s Adam Kushner and Joe Pfender, joined by Eric Henley of H Tek Tire & Auto Care in East Tennessee, exploring how auto repair shops can remain visible, relevant, and profitable no matter the economic climate. The discussion ranges from the early days of phone book ads to today’s data-driven digital strategies, with insights on Google Ads, Local Service Ads, and brand-based website content. Eric shares how targeted marketing and rebranding have fueled major growth in tire sales, how his team uses DVIs to build trust, and how tools like online scheduling and call tracking boost efficiency. The group also dives into reducing no-shows, leveraging video to tell a shop’s story, and shifting the public perception of the auto repair industry through exceptional customer experiences.

 

Host(s):

Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development

 

Guest(s):

Eric Henley, Owner of H-TEK Tire & Auto Care

Adam Kushner, Owner of AutoBoost Business Actualization

Joe Pfender, Director of Growth & Client Success at AutoBoost Business Actualization

 

Episode Highlights:

[00:03:14 ] - Eric’s journey from a two-person shop to a seven-bay operation in rural East Tennessee.

[00:04:51 ] - How search engine “real estate” has replaced static, phone-book style marketing.

[00:08:53 ] - Rebranding with a tire focus delivers a 75% increase in tire sales.

[00:10:47 ] - Tracking ROI with a goal of at least 300–400% return on ad spend.

[00:12:21 ] - Using “Google Whisper” to signal advisors when calls are from paid ads.

[00:13:53 ] - Tailoring the sales process to match customer expectations for higher close rates.

[00:17:17 ] - Building brand-driven, locally relevant website content.

[00:21:07 ] - Three must-have videos: testimonials, owner story, and shop culture.

[00:23:21 ] - Online scheduling with reminders and warm follow-ups to cut down no-shows.

[00:36:24 ] - Leveraging Local Service Ads and Google Guaranteed to dominate top search placement.

 

In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry?
Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.

 

👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O99j8Iyklbg

 

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Episode Transcript Disclaimer

This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.

 

Episode Transcript:

Jimmy Lea: So thank you for joining us. Those of you who are here live and those who are joining and the recording, thank you very much. We have lots of questions to ask and lots of people to talk to about our subject today, which is everything to do with your shop and being found and being relevant in any economy no matter what's happening, whether economy is up or down or sideways or backwards.

Jimmy Lea: Whatever that might be, you have to be found. So where are people going? What are they doing? Where are they finding you? Where are they finding your shop? So in order to do this, we've invited Auto Boosto. We've got Adam and Joe joining us from Auto Boosto to talk about what they do as a marketing company with shops and their websites.

Jimmy Lea: Thank you for joining us, Joe. 

Joe Pfender: Absolutely. Thanks for having us. 

Jimmy Lea: Yes, and thank you, Adam. Glad that you are here. Honored to be here. Nice, nice. Now you guys are in the same conference room you're sitting across from each other. 

Adam Kushner: Uh, we're in the office. We moved apart a little bit to avoid any echo, but just so that we had, uh, wanted to make sure everybody could see Joe's beautiful face.

Jimmy Lea: That's it. You know, it's all about the Joe Show. It really is. Uh, we were at Tools together and we did some video with Joe and, and he was just so much pent up energy. It's hard to get that boy to stand still. 

Joe Pfender: I did my best Jimmy 

Jimmy Lea: video. It's so good. It's epic. It, it belongs on every bit of YouTube and the internet.

Jimmy Lea: Yo, you did a great job. Thanks, Jimmy. Yes. You, you did. It was, it was the most energy of any video we recorded at Tools, so well done, sir. I appreciate that. Nice, nice. So waving at each other across from the conference table. Hello. Hello. Good to see you everyone. Guys. Hey, and, and joining us for our shop owner today is Eric Hensley with, uh, Eric is with High Tech H Tech.

Jimmy Lea: Are you changing to H Tech or is it High Tech? 

Eric Henley: It's, it's H Tek Tire and Autocare. Yep. 

Jimmy Lea: H Tech Tire Auto Care, Eric Hensley up in the, uh, 

Eric Henley: east Tennessee. 

Jimmy Lea: East Tennessee. I was gonna say you were up in Maine. I, but I knew 

Eric Henley: Sunny East Tennessee, right up in the corner near Bristol. 

Jimmy Lea: Nice. East Tennessee. Nice. And what's the weather like there in Tennessee right now?

Eric Henley: Uh, we're almost 80. It's, we've got a cool spell, so it's pretty nice. 

Jimmy Lea: Hey, 

Eric Henley: that's feeling good. 

Jimmy Lea: I'll tell you, I, I moved to Northern Utah, and, uh, the high yesterday was 94. It felt so good to be at that nice, cool level under a hundred. Wow. We, we live in st. We lived in St. George, Utah, and it was 104 hundred eight on a regular basis.

Jimmy Lea: So to go to 94, you can tell. Hmm, that's a 10, 10 degrees swing. Yeah, it was feeling pretty good. Feeling pretty good. 

Speaker 5: Nice. 

Jimmy Lea: So, Eric, thank you for joining. So glad that you're here with us. We can have this conversation talking about you and your shop and your business. You were recently on with us last December, talking about your shop as well.

Jimmy Lea: Mm-hmm. But for those who are joining for the first time, give us a little breakdown of, of who you are, what your shop is, what it looks like. They're in east Tennessee. 

Eric Henley: Yeah, so we're in, uh, right in the corner of the state, very rural area. Uh, been in business now 19 years. Uh, started just me and myself, um, me and my father.

Eric Henley: And, um, now we're at Seven Bays and a full staff. Uh, and, uh, we've grown tremendously through the years. So, uh. Not sure where else you want. 

Jimmy Lea: No, man, I'll tell you, that's, that's fan fascinating. 19 years in business. So I, marketing wise, you have seen a lot of changes that have come through the years. Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Lea: Because I think back 19 years ago when I started my business, it was like, okay, you have to have a full page ad in the newspaper. It's $1,500 a month. Mm-hmm. Yep. Holy crap. Yep. And, and my town had three new, uh, three phone books. 

Eric Henley: I remember the first time they pitched me, SEO was through, uh, Dex and they were pitching me $2,500 a month.

Eric Henley: Yeah. And I couldn't afford $500 a month when we started, so they were like, no, the business will come. And we're like, eh, not sure. So, uh, major difference in what we, the way we market now compared to what we did back then. 

Jimmy Lea: Oh yeah. Made, made huge differences. Uh, mine was a, a little eighth inch. I had a one inch, uh, ad in the phone book.

Jimmy Lea: Mm-hmm. And I was still a hundred bucks a month. I had to pay for that one inch. And I had three phone books, so it was 300 bucks a anyways. Uh, yeah. You've seen a marketing change a lot where going from phone books to websites, websites just became a picture of that. Mm-hmm. Phone book. Mm-hmm. Yep. Very static.

Jimmy Lea: No dynamics to it whatsoever. But there was so much that we could do with that. Uh, Joe, Adam, what did you guys do to take it from a, a static phone book website to something more dynamic? 

Adam Kushner: Well, and I just made a comment in the chat, you know, back, I remember those days as well. Um. Uh, you know, 20 years ago when, uh, when we were looking at Yellow page ads and negotiating on space, and that was the search engine result page, right?

Adam Kushner: That's where someone